THE ROLE OF DIGITAL

IN FESTIVAL

MARKETING

CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. Background Information

3. Consumer profile

4. Target Audience

5. SWOT analysis

6. Traffic Building

7. Digital technologies in 21st century

8. Primary research

9. Survey

10. Critique

11. Definitions

12. References

INTRODUCTION This report is focused on digital marketing in the context of a given market sector which in this case is music event industry. The aim of this report is to compare, contrast and analyse specific websites related with festivals localized across the whole UK. The research provided help to actually see how the traffic building works in the real world.One of our objectives is to find out what digital technologies are available to support marketing in the 21st century.

MARKET IN BRIEF – OVERVIEW

According to Mintel ( 2010 )after quite a few years of study and continual growth, the market for music concerts and festivals has begun to slow down as the collective blow of promised strictness measures and high ticket prices bumping eats into consumer self-assurance.Nevertheless, live music has been a reduced amount of cruelly affected by the disadvantage of the economy than many other sectors of the leisure market such as pubs, restaurants and gaming. Moreover, this reflects the statement that activities offering an element of diversion have done predominantly well, for this reason the success of sectors such as cinema and theatre as well.Additionally, inside the music market, live performances enclose also helped to maintain the industry through a very tricky period during which recorded music revenues have declined as a result of the impact of extensive piracy.

BACKGROUND INFORMATIONMARKET SIZE

The market ruined through the £2.3 billion doorsill in 2009 and seems liable to see insignificant increase in income in 2010, although require for tickets has destabilized particularly since Easter.Looking further in advance, 2011 is expected to be a hard year as consumers come to terms with the sustained failing of the market and public sector job cuts, as well as an boost in ticket prices driven by the rise in VAT. If the live music business in the UK is to prosper in the next five years, it requires some common sense on the part of artists in terms of their fee demands, so that promoters can match ticket prices to require.

SEGMENT PERFORMANCE

Almost half of every one of adults visit some sort of music concert, a rank which remained constant in 2009 compared to 2008. Rock/pop is the central type, accounting for nearly 60% of total visits to music concerts in 2009. Additionally, it has also seen the strongest expansion in visits, further on of jazz, while visits to classical concerts have grown by a more unassuming quantity. According to statistics,more than 700 festivals are taking place in the UK in 2010, with the immensity of these positioned in the South West. One of the most well-liked months for a festival is July, which accounts for 28% of the total.

CONSUMER PROFILE TGI PROFILE

Sex: female and male (main shoppers (i21)

Age: 15 – 24

National Status Grade: ABC1

Total Personal Income: up to 2.999 or 20.000 – 22.999 (i29), 23.00 – 26.999 (i20), 34.000 – 36.999 (i27), 37.000-39.999 (i33), 40.000-42.999 (i24), 43.000- 50.000 or over (i50) or No

Working Status: Not working – full-time student/at school (i97), long term illness/disabled (i36), unemployed – looking for firs job (i29).

Marital Status: Single (18-24) (i74), Single (15-24) (i86).

Level of Education: University Degree (i24), Doctorate level or professional equivalent (i30), Still studying (i80)

INTERNET USAGE

Internet Activities:Newspapers, Magazines, Cinema Listings/ Events Guides, Music/ MP3 (i41) ,A specific television/ channels (i36), Academic Study (i27), Chat rooms/ Forums (i35), Reading Blogs (i45), Writing Blogs (i40), Downloading Music (paid for) (i40),Downloading Podcasts (i39), Downloading Films (i24), Renting DvDs (i36), Uploading/ sharing photos (i12), Instant Messaging (i25), Social Networking (i37), Listening to Radio (i35), Watching TV(i27), Watching Video Clips (i30), Uploading Video Clips (i46), Participating in virtual world (i46), Making/ uploading own website (i23)Share Prices/ Share Dealing/ Investments, Weather Forecast (i20), Travel/ holidays (i23), Sport (i23), Business Information (i38)Working from home (i32), Internet – Making Purchase OnlineComputer Hardware and Accessories (i35),DVDs (i26), Clothing and Footwear (i25),Books (i26), Tickets for Events (i29), Mobile Phones and Accessories (i36).

LIFE STATEMENTS

I tend to be influenced by comments/reviews posted online by other Internet users (i29)Cannabis should be legalised (i22)I like to be surrounded by different people, cultures, ideas and lifestyles (i24)I like taking risks (i21)I like to pursue a life of challenge, novelty and change (i21)Music is an important part of my life (i90)I like to listen to new bands (i39)I consider myself interested in the arts (i39)I wear designer clothes (i22)My car should express my personality (i27)People come to me for advice before buying new things (i20)I only buy products from a company with whose ethics I agree (i23)The point of drinking is to get drunk (i29)I prefer to take holidays off the beaten track (i20)I would never think of taking a package holiday (i21)I like to stand out in a crowd (i36)I like to keep up with the latest fashions (i20)I spend a lot on clothes (i26)I would be prepared to pay more for environmentally friendly products (i20)I always listen to the radio more intently when the news comes on (i21)I try to keep up with developments in technology (i26)My faith is really important to me (i20)I am interested in international events (i94)I am interested in other cultures (i39)I look for profitable ways to invest my money (i21)I’m interested in financial services advertising (i34)I buy free range products whenever I can (i20)

TARGET AUDIENCEMusic Events Industry’s “demographic trends provide mixed news for live music, with strong growth among older age groups positive for classical, while a general increase in affluence of the population is good because it is the most affluent ABC1 consumers who are most likely to attend all types of concert”. (Mintel, 2010)

Office for National Statistics indicated consumers as: 15-24-year-old age range, which grew in number by 4.3% between 2005 and 2010. However, according to Mintel (2010) their number actually declined, contracting by 4,1% between 2010 and 2015. Forecast growth in the number of 45 – 54 – year-olds, which will boost their numbers by approximately 500,000, may help to boost the ‘revival’ sector.

TGI confirms the trend of young people attending music festivals but shows completely different or inaccurate picture of older audience. TGI does not include any upward trends about ABC1 50 + years old people but gives clear picture of disinterest of lower social classes. These results explain music events industry’s behaviour towards consumers such as prices, advertising, use of Internet in ways of communications and then reaching customers.

TGI respondents agree in 52.5 % that music is an important part of their lives. The figure comprises: male and female, singles, aged 15 – 24 (i63), AB social class, with no personal income, not working – full-time-students (i97) or graduate, looking for first job (i29). However, 15,7 % represents any disagree: 55 + years old.

Potential festival industry customer is well – situated so they can afford it. 51 % of UK residents confirm their interest in music events “I like music festivals and to be surrounded by different people, cultures, ideas and lifestyles ‘. The majority are students and educated people in upper national social classes. The task turns out to be much easier when it comes to the Internet usage. It’s a big world out there. The number of Internet users now exceeds 2 billion people (Internet Word Statistic). ABC1 belongs to heavy users of Internet, accessing it couple times every day, everywhere. What is more, they look for music/festivals news by themselves, subscribing music websites, reading forums, blogs (Pull) and joining particular groups on social networking. They are familiar with developments in technology (i67). (TGI, 2007)

The depth analyse of target audience has contributed to numerous changes and evolution of the music events market. Predominance of ABC1 cased the increase in tickets prises for festivals, excluding poorer national social groups. (Mintel,2010)

In English society music is strongly rooted. The interest passes from generation to generation Festivals industry offers wide range of unique music events. Some of them became some kind of symbol and tradition, even for whole families (like Glastonbury).According to Mintel “Nearly two fifths of adults claim to have visited a music concert or festival during the past year, with nearly a third having been to a concert and one in ten claiming to have been to a festival. There is a strong correlation between festival visitors and a propensity to visit other types of music concert, suggesting that they represent the ‘hardcore’ of concert-goers.”

Types of music concerts and festivals people visit (Mintel, 2010)

SWOT ANALYSISStrengths and opportunities The last decade has seen an increasing penetration of internet access into homes and businesses. This fundamental technological change has had a profound impact on the way in which artists and acts can now promote their music and events to fans. It has also allowed promoters and venues to sell tickets with greater ease and efficiency, causing a fundamental shift in how consumers purchase such items from offline to online channels. More recently, the evolution of Web 2.0 has meant that online interactive communities are now forming such as Facebook, Twitter, the blogosphere, as well as numerous online forums and groups, which have seen a radical increase in use and popularity in recent years. This has offered music companies and retailers numerous opportunities to synchronise promotions for new albums with access to live events.

* Artist resourcesThe music industry is currently broken into two main sectors: live music and recorded music. As a consequence, some artists develop from a strong live following and easily adapt into the recorded sector, whilst others seem to gain recognition from the recorded sector first before they begin their live

touring careers. There is no shortage of new and original artists entering the market. As well as this, there are a smaller number of major acts who are already established and well known. These resources combine to provide and offer music venues and promoters a limitless supply of artists which can be booked, promoted and exploited.

* Opportunities within escapism and socioeconomic declineThe economy is currently suffering a crisis, as is the general social infrastructure of the United Kingdom, manifesting in public sector deficit reductions, unemployment, austerity and reduction in disposable income. As such, the general social attitude is becoming increasingly negative and consumers are now more inclined to seek new and increased forms of escapism. This is reflected in the increased demand for music festivals, concerts and dance events.

* Abundance of venuesThe UK has a wide variety of potential venues for live events which can be exploited. There is no shortage of public houses, nightclubs, mid-level venues, arenas, stadiums and festivals. This offers promoters and events organisers an abundant degree of options from which to choose.

Weaknesses and threats

* Ticket pricing Ticket prices are on the rise in the current climate. The current socio- economic decline means that there is an increased danger of reduced demand, which could serve to deter potential consumers, particular those from lower grade socio-economic groups.This rise has largely been driven by higher fee demands made by artists, again as a reaction the current economic climate. The future could also see a potential rise in the PRS for Music licence fee. A recent increase in VAT also means higher prices for consumers.These combined elements mean that the live music sector will have to re-think its pricing policies if it wishes to avoid a downturn in demand. A failure to adapt could mean a very real danger for the sector.

* Unpredictable nature of the businessPromotion is by its nature; unpredictable. A dominant and popular act could just as quickly be yesterday’s news within weeks. With promoters working on tight margins, the larger tours could prove either extremely lucrative, or could result in heavy losses.Promoters are consequently less willing to invest in acts unless they see some

solid indication that they are sure-fire winners. The increasing fee demand has a large part to play in the development of this attitude and promoters are now less likely to take risks. This means that eventually the number of concerts will decline and the number of opportunities for acts to perform and gain recognition and exposure will decrease. This will have the resultant effect of revenue loss.

* Economic depressionThe declining state of the economy is of primary concern for promoters since it has the potential and likelihood of decreasing concert attendance and ticket sales. Unless this is handled carefully, promoters will not be able to take advantage of the increase in demand for escapism activities.So far the festivals area of the live sector has not been affected, however this is mainly due to the fact that most festival tickets were purchased months ago, long before the change in government and the announcement of public spending cuts. It is predicted that the 2011 festival season will see the downturn’s emergent effects and demand could very well decrease as a consequence.

* Reliance on the youth marketThe live music sector has for the most part been reliant on the youth market as a direct reflection on people’s lifestyles

and behaviours. This is largely due to the fact that it is easier for one to go out and enjoy these kinds of events when a person is single, young and without family, as there is much more disposable income and time available to this demographic.

There has however been evidence to suggest that the number of 15-24 year-olds is starting to suffer decline. Youth unemployment is also sharply rising. This is also a major concern for the live music industry, which is more than likely responsible for the increase in the promotion and staging of live acts tailored and aimed toward older age demographics. This has and continues to manifest itself in the re-emergence of heritage and revival acts, such as Take That, AC/DC and the Rolling Stones.

* Diverse forms of media and resultant increased secondary competitionThere is a potential for additional revenue generation in the screening and showcasing of live events via TV and cinema and other media formats. Additional revenue could also be generated by selling the rights to live promoters and artists. This however must utilise a careful and considered approach, as the promoters would not wish to cause an even bigger loss by

undermining the potential demand for live event tickets, which could happen if consumers feel they could access their favourite artists and content through other alternative means. It does paradoxically have the potential to actually stimulate demand for tickets due to the increased methods of exposure. It would be wise for any promoter to consider balancing these options carefully.

Television is the most common method of live-event consumption. Festivalwatch brings larger events such as the Glastonbury festival to television screens every year, offering exceptional coverage. This actually serves to increase the appeal of the event, which could be one of the primary reasons that tickets for UK festivals sell-out so quickly. This works purely because of the size and popularity of the event, but this method of promotion would not be so efficient for artist-specific concerts, since these are often geared towards niche markets.The emergence of cinema as a conduit for live music is an interesting development. At present, this has tended to concentrate on live events which would be difficult for UK residents to attend (e.g. European residents) but again if rights were sold to UK events such as the Download festival, this would have to be handled quite carefully.

TRAFFIC BUILDINGTraffic building techniques

In order to set up a successful website audience and its requirements should be defined. Digital market campaigns have yielded greater conversion rates for affiliates than e-marketing strategy alone, because it is not restricted to the Internet. There are still many people who do not own a computer and Internet access but almost everyone has a mobile phone, MP3 player, iPod and are affected by outdoor digital displays.

Landing page

Landing page or lead capture page is any page on a website where traffic is sent specifically to cause a certain action or give desired result. It is the page on which an Internet user is directed after clicking an ad or sponsored link. The content of this page is expanding the content of an ad or link, in which the user clicked. Optimizing your landing pages in terms of keywords and phrases is an important element on these pages indexed by search engines.Landing page is closely related to the advertised message and its task is to automatically win the client and gain his attention. This person can be the next recipient of our newsletters, participant, or someone using the request form while ordered our product. Desired function

is to involve the consumer in a complete conversion. In addition, the landing page is the way to provide all the necessary statistics, in details: the directions where the visitors come from, what exact path are they taking, and where they are going. Successful implementation of both of these goals - that is, tracking and research, is dependent on efficient technology and marketing experience. The point is to know and plan by testing and anticipation for example what path will the typical consumer choose (wherever it reaches the landing page, it will be relevant), what limitations the consumer will be exposed (link type, monitor resolution , type of software) or how to simplify it to reach the goal. More emphasis should be put on efficiency rather than effectiveness. Speed is a crucial factor. Landing page should both efficiently provide relevant information package to basic consumer and gather information about customer. Page loading shouldn’t be unnecessarily prolonged for long many seconds due to the excessive overload or graphics located on the server which is not prepared for generated traffic.Well-designed page should have all these factors which lead to high conversion.

An intermediary page where the purpose is to persuade visitors to click through to a subsequent page.

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN THE 21ST CENTURYeFestivals has been running since 2000 (and in another form for two years prior to that), and has the biggest audience of festival attendees by a very long way (around 3 times that of our nearest competitor) available anywhere.

This means that eFestivals is able to deliver the most cost-effective engagement with every music festival in the UK and the millions of fans who attend them each year.

With Google’s top-ranking for a search for festivals, eFestivals is the most widely-used and highly-regarded site of its kind. Independently owned and operated (with no liking of payola, unlike others) it is the only truly independent festivals platform.

According to Comscore, the industry standard in audience measurement, eFestivals has achieved a 31.9% increase in traffic (measured in terms of Unique Users) in the twelve months leading up to September 2009. Comscore also confirmed that eFestivals has almost three times the reach of its nearest direct competitor in the music festivals marketplace. (Source: Comscore2009)

Site StatisticsIn March 2010 our server recorded 16.3 million page impressions from 842,100 unique users who made 1,988,308 visits to the website. (source: eFestivals server stats, March 2010)

Corporate advertisersFor a full overview of advertising opportunities, please contact our sales partner Addvantage Media by phone (Tel: 08444 829 729) or by e-mail to Chris Knight &/or Jeanette Taylor.

Festivals wishing to advertiseFestivals interested in advertising opportunities should email Zoey Benjamin at Alive Advertising Ltd, who deal with festivals advertising on our behalf

Competitors: http://www.seetickets.com/http://www.serious.org.uk/http://www.aegworldwide.com/http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/http://www.livenation.co.uk/http://www.getmein.com/

E-mail marketing A very important way to communicate with customer or people saved on our list is the e-mail marketing. It is a relatively cheap method of marketing and can be very effective effective. Can work as a tool of increasing traffic to your blog or correlated sites of any business whether sales or service. The method works in both large and small companies, especially small ones. Lack of adequate funding may still create an efficient and professional marketing campaigns.E-mail marketing is an effective form of advertising, gaining an increasing share of marketing budgets of companies. Careful

selection of materials and forms while presenting the content can significantly affect the perception of information and ensure effective communication.Videos and images can boost interest in presented offer. Key point is to the ability to measure the campaign. This also allows to measure the clickthrough rate and recognise whether sent message was opened. Another important thing is ability to unsubscribe anytime that uninterested consumer wants and efestival newsletter also offers that (Figure 3). It creates an opportunity to analyze what works well and what needs an improvement which is important from a business point of view (Figure 4).

figure 3 Possibility of unsubscribing from newsletter.

Figure 4. Landing page where visitor is directed to after un-subscrib-ing.

Consumers’ attention is very valuable and difficult to get. In the case of e-mail marketing the time spent on getting acquainted with the message is relatively short. Therefore the key element is its design, which will firstly be noted and, secondly, followed by encouraging the recipient to take desired action. Example of newsletter of efestival.co.uk shows lack of thought out plan how to

implement technologies into life. It lacks images which are not automatically displayed in many e-mail providers so therefore it minimizes possibility of attracting receiver’s attention. Newsletter doesn’t contain any interactive videos or interesting visuals so therefore priceless opportunity to gain interest.

Social Media Social networking sites and blogs are the driving force of business and is effective only while involving other people. An essential part of it regularity and frequency therefore company should track blogs of people working in the same niche and take part in conversations. Posting a comment on a few blogs per week will increase traffic to company’s blog.

Figure 2. Newsletter of efestival.co.uk

Social Media Optimisation

Examples of SMO:• add RSS / Atom feeds on the page the addition of buttons that can share content to allow voting by Internet and commenting and sharing content• the use of images and video from social networking sites onto desired site, placing its own media on social networking sites• blogging, commenting, content co-creation with others• active participation in social networking sites

SMO has an increasing impact on level of traffic on the site and allows to implement objectives of promotion or sales directly from the social networking site, without need of a WWW page by the user. (Figure 5) Information posted on social networking sites are increasingly affected by the position in the search results of Internet search engines as links on social networking sites are additional links to website which has a positive impact on SEO.Glastonbury website shows a very effective and thought through approach. Its home page is equipped with and e-marketing social media tools as visitor can share content with friend by social media. Also subscribing process is easy

and relatively quick which proves its well-optimised in terms of graphics and loading time is not long. All these factors lead to a high customer satisfaction which results in positive traffic building.

SEOSearch engine optimization, or SEO, refers to the process of increasing websites position in the search engines results pages of search engines. It refers to is a process of increasing your website rank against specific keywords or search terms which are used by many visitors on Internet. Search engine optimization can play a very significant role while achieving specific target as advantages includes targeting traffic, increase brand visibility and increase in sales. A very essential feature of SEO is that it is very much cost effective method of marketing. At the same time it is typically more affordable than traditional advertising techniques. It can have a significant impract while doing online business as it can increase unique visitors on a daily basis on website by offering relevant information. Search engine optimization has also very distinct advantages for the small business owner.

Figure 5. Using social media and clear and vis-ible way of subscribing to newsletter on music festival website www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk

Despite its advantages including best usability, browser compatibility and accessibility, study showed that SEO cannot be used as a single tool. While combining multiple channels in the message campaigns, marketer can provide much more successful results rather than using SEO on its own. A very useful example of implementing multichannel strategy is Audley Travel case study. Company provides tailor-made individual itineraries for discerning travellers seeking authentic experiences around the world and their goald was to maintain prominent position online and increase number of visitors to its website. Audley Travel implemented an integrated search engine optimisation (SEO), Pay Per-Click (PPC) and social media campaign. Case study underlines importance of

combined strategies and impressive role of SEO as it coordinated three stages mentioned above by improving the volume of key words and long-tail terms which were delivering traffic into the site. SEOptimise put emphasise on bringing together paid and organic search to attract visitors at different stages of the consumer buying cycle. Another part established launching ‘Audley Traveller’ magazine section which provided frequently updated travel content. SEO had to optimise new content to combine the search strategies more effective and reduce paid search costs by targeting proven converting traffic organically. (Figaro, 2011)

Figure 1. Google search engine results page for keyphrase ‘music festival’

Virtual Festivals is a very special creative endeavour to connect up the festival scene, and everyone who is a part of it, in a big collective embrace of positive energy, passion and collaboration. (Steve Jenner, founder )VF promotes open information across the festival landscape and empower fans to influence the shape of the festival future. (virtualfestivals.com)The website has been running since 1999. As the festival marketplace has exploded beyond all recognition, VF has grown to become its premiere online information and lifestyle portal. VF founder - Steve Jenner says that VF make a real difference to the fans and event organisers who make the festival world go round.Right now, 2 million people in the UK rely on VF to plan, document and share their passion for festivals. Several hundred independent festival organisers depend on the site to connect directly to the audience at large. (virtualfestivals.com)It is the main online media partner to the UK Festival Awards - the Oscars of the festival world - which allows fans to set the standard of the scene by voting online to decide the best events and artists each year - and the UK Festival Conference, the only event that attracts the whole of the British festival industry under one roof. In August 2008 Virtual Festivals Europe has launched, a sister-project to connect up the festival scene on a pan-European basis. In 2009 VE partnered with The European Festival Awards, applying the successful format of the UK awards to continental Europe, home of more than 3000 amazing music festivals. These awards are presented at Eurosonic in The Netherlands. (virtualfestival.com)

A leading site for Festivals on the Web:* Over 2 million unique users.* Over 100,000 registered members.* Users spend 3 times longer on Virtual Festivals than its nearest competitor (ComScore).* Niche market leader.* Trusted and authoritative editorial. * The world’s largest dedicated online social media platform for festival-goers.* Over 200 experienced and passionate contributors covering events all over the UK and beyond. * Producers of the annual UK Festival Awards

FESTIVAL PROMOTERS:- Stuart Galbraith, Kilimanjaro Live:”Virtual Festivals is the definitive website for festival information and the vast majority of festival-goers know it as that.”

- Melvin Benn, Festival Republic: “Steve and the team undoubtedly have festivals at the core of their being, in the same way that I do. They have steadily built Virtual Festivals into the most respected independent festival portal in Europe and I take my hat off to them.”

- John Giddings, Solo: “Virtual Festivals has been a great way of promoting the Isle Of Wight Festival - it puts you in touch directly with the audiences of all other festivals.”

- Rob da Bank, Bestival and Camp Bestival: “Virtual Festivals is an invaluable source of concrete news and I salute Steve and the team for doing such a cracking job.”

- John Probyn, Live Nation: “Virtual Festivals is now the leading source of information for our festival customers.”

Music Week:“One of the industry’s real success stories.”

Web User - 5 Stars, Site of the Fortnight”A splendid site. Just be careful not to get so engrossed you miss your event!”

The Sun – Website of the Week“Virtual Festivals is your passport to the summer’s festivals without leaving your home comforts. As well as news and photos, the key thing here is to meet up with like- minded souls. In a field of its own”

The Times:“Virtual Festivals is very much the complete package. Its clean online-magazine feel makes for an easy-to-use portal that provides everything from a thriving interactive festival community as well as well-informed editorial.”

Q Magazine, Stuart Maconie:“A first rate portal for news, ticket sales and all things festival related. Created by Steve Jenner in his bedroom, it now has offices in the West End, all the better to help you gear up for summer in the comfort of your own home.”

The Sunday Times:“With such a mass of options on the festival-goer’s dream calendar, this lively site is the best place to co-ordinate a summer offensive.” - Number One site out of six reviewed.

Metro:“Whether it’s moshing at Glastonbury or raving at Creamfields, this website has it covered. If a festival is not listed here, then it’s not worth going to. With its news, reviews, interviews, and interactive features, it’s the perfect online companion for outdoor frolics.” - Number One in a review of various festival-related sites.

NEWSLETTERS

A Newsletter is a letter to which Web surfers can subscribe on a Web site, in order to receive, on a regular basis by Email, the latest news from this site. The frequency of newsletter distribution varies (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.) according to the site and to the type of the information. (mobiletag.com)

I subscribed to virtualfestivals newsletter to find out how it works. There is an example of what I have received. This newsletter has got

ONLINE VIDEO

Online video can generate higher response rates of 1-4% according to the compilations of ad serving companies such as Ad Tech ( www.adtech.de), but they need to use the right approach to influence more. Research by Dynamic logic summarized in Admap (2007) understandably advises ‘ Keep it short and simple’. Online ads are one of the main revenue models for online media owners so there is a lot of research into how to make them effective. ( Chaffey, 2008 )

BANNER ADVERTISING

A banner ad is an advertisement that is embedded into a website. The ad itself links to the advertiser’s website – or landing page. The intent is for visitors to click on the ad and go to the advertiser’s page. Banner ads often use animation to help draw attention to the ad.(tatummarketing.com )A visitor who clicks on an interactive (banner) ad at an ad site is then referred through to the site of the company who paid for the banner ad which links through to a destination site. Many organizations link interactive ads to specific campaign microsite. Banners on this website are usually linked with music industry. Promoting particular festivals etc. Apart from that there are some random advertisements going on for example Nissan etc.

INSTANT SHARING BUTTONS

These buttons allow the consumer to instantly share their opinion onto a social networking websites such as Facebook.com.

SEARCH ENGINE Search engine marketing is arguably the most important digital marketing chan-nel for customer acquisition. Potential customers are naturally turning to search engine when seeking a new product, service or entertainment now a days. They also turn to search when they be-come familiar with a new brand either through offline advertising or direct mail or through other digital channels such as graphical display ads. (Chaffey, 2008)

When one types music festivals in to google search engine virtualfestivals.co.uk comes up as the third link, just above efestivals.co.uk.

PRIMARY RESEARCHInterview 1.

Sex: femaleAge: 21

How often do you go to music festivals?It is not so often I wish to be but yeah, about 10 times a year. It depends on my account situation to be honest. I usually plan my trips and related with them expenditures in advance. And can’t wait for it.

From where do you find out about music festivals/gigs?It is simply. My main tool is facebook at the moment. If I like a band I look for them on it and join to fans groups. They updated information about their tours which I can see on my wall. Besides, I subscribe many websites and listen to the radio!

What websites do you use to find out about music festivals/ gigs?Main websites of artist/ band. Sometimes blogs.

What would you look for on music festivals website?Any information! Of course, I would looked for basic information like where it will take place, what time, who, how much.

Strengths and weaknesses of music festivals websites?You can’t buy tickets on the particular website and links to many tickets websites are usually crap. They rarely give inf ‘how to get there’;

Do you think that digital technologies influent on your choice of music festivals website?Yes, I do. If website is suited to todays digital technologies I think it is more attractive for me but I haven’t found such a good website yet.

Interview 2.

Sex: maleAge: 26 How often do you go to music festivals?Seldom, I need special occasion or invitation to go.

From where do you find out about music festivals/gigs?From the Internet, eventually from friends.

What websites do you use to find out about music festivals/ gigs?Last.fm is the only source I use to find out about them.

What would you look for on music festivals website?Ticket prices, performing artists’ list, traffic information (e.g., how to arrive, special public transportation lines, etc.).

Strengths and weaknesses of music festivals websites?- a possibility to find all the necessary information in one placeWeaknesses: depends on who and how has made the website

Do you think that digital technologies influent on your choice of music festivals website?I don’t think so, they’re not what attracts my attention.

SURVEYPrimary research provides carefully read of music festival market’s target audience and examine music festival websites in terms of their usability and effectiveness of digital marketing and techniques for building traffic. Below there is a summary of the Secondary and Primary research analysis.

Q1. What is your gender?Research shows greater involvement of women in survey. Despite of small difference in numbers, female (56. 1%) are more interested in music in general than male (43.9%). It is consistent with TGI data (2007) what shows positive index (24) for Other women who definitely agreed in 23 % that Music is an important part of my life but suggest male main shoppers as more interested in music events with positive index 21.

0

15.0

30.0

45.0

60.0

Female Male

Q2. How old are you? Office for National Statistics indicated consumers as: 15-24-year-old age range, which grew in number by 4.3% between 2005 and 2010.Primary research confirm distinct interest in music by young people, narrowing the group to 19 – 24 years old (78.05%). It does not show any upward in older groups (45+) as Mintel suggested in its growth forecasts for 2010 -2015. Results do not show any trends in other age groups.

Q3. What is the highest level of education that you have achieved?According to secondary research, people who attending music festivals are mature and well –educated (social status ABC1 plays important role here). Research defines these people as graduated or still studying,. TGI data confirmed high level of education, showing positive index for Doctorate level or professional equivalent (30), Still studying (80), University degree (24). Taking into

55 +

45 - 55

40 - 44

35 - 39

30 - 34

25 - 29

19 - 24

15 - 18

0 20.00 40.00 60.00 80.00

2.44

78.05

4.88

0

2.44

4.88

2.44

4.88

account age of the group (19 -24), it can be concluded they are still students or just graduated, looking for first job.

Q4. What is your household composition?32% of living alone without children group indicates young people who just entered adult life and begin a career. 29% of respondents still live with family what does not mean they are not students.

Q5. In what area do you live?Responses to Question 4 confirm level of education and social status of people who are interested in music events. More than half of respondents (67%)confirm they live in cities what means they live close to school/university or begin career, looking for first job in big cities. Suburbs (18%) and rural area(10%) may indicate high national status grade. The question did not include the permanent or temporary address what could be confusing to respondents. Neither Mintel or TGI does not provide data on place of residence of people who is interested in music events.

15%

29%

10%

15%

32%

Living with parents/grandparents/family

Other

Living alone without children

Living together/married without children

Living together/married with children

Q6. Does music play an important role in your life?The vast majority (93%) confirmed that music is an important part of their life what is the basic in festivals attendance. Music is for them sort of entertainment. They say I consider myself interested in the arts with positive TGI index 39. TGI shows these group as heavy internet users (every day (i26). Their Internet activities are in close link to music: They read Music Magazines; look for Events Guides; download Music/ MP3 (i41); watch a specific music television/channels (i36); social networking(i37).

Q7. How often do you listen to music?90 % of respondents listen to music every day. In the era of developing technology of music and Internet, they are accompanied by music, even on their way to school or while doing ordinary activities during the day. They can find music everywhere they look or music finds them through different media such as for example social networking, TV or Radio. High frequency of listening to music proves that music is integral part of their lives.

Q8. Have you ever used any kind of festival website?According to primary research people are not familiar with or interested in music festival websites. The majority of respondents (58%) do not use any

0

23

45

68

9090

5

3Every day

Once in a whileyes93%

no7%

music festival website. 41% of them confirm their interest of these website. Interviews show more interest in using social networking and being a member of fan groups of particular music band or subscription of favourite bands websites: ‘My main tool is facebook at the moment. If I like a band I look for them on it and join to fans groups. They updated information about their tours which I can see on my wall. Besides, I subscribe many websites and listen to the radio!’.(interview 1.); Last.fm is the only source I use to find out about them.(Interview 2.) 41.46% said ‘yes’ what balances results for both groups and brings the chances to fifty-fifty.

58.54

41.46

No

Yes

Q9. What is the name of that website?

Results accurately show more interest in specific festival websites e.g www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk, www.opener.pl, www.nibefestival.dk, www.leedsfestival.co.uk (red, orange).Only small per cent of respondents indicate indirect festival websites like efestivals.com.(green) Lot of respondents just skipped the question what confirm lack of interest/usage of festivals websites. It suggests that people does not look for new festivals. They know what festival they want to visit in advance. This could be kind of ‘tradition’ for them or they prefer to visit checked places. People still rely on worth-of-mount or friend’s recommendation as respondent answered question From where do you find out about music festivals? : From the Internet, eventually from friends. (Interview 2)

Q10. Do you subscribe it?More than half of respondents do not subscribe any festival website. 43% of respondents answered ‘yes’, showing interest and necessity being up to date with all music/festivals news.

Q11. Do you find newsletter helpful? Does it give an information you need or expect? For one of respondent advantage of festival website is possibility to find all the necessary information in one

place. (Interview 2.) 56% are satisfied with received newsletters while 44% answered no. Serious disadvantages for them is that “You can’t buy tickets on the particular website and links to many tickets websites are usually crap. They rarely give any information ‘how to get there’” (Interview 1.)It is small numerical difference between them, results may not reflect the reality, especially that results are similar to answers Q9. (respondents could not skip the question)

Q12. Do ad banners catch your attention?According to respondents ad banners in 63.41% sometimes catch their attention. The small difference between answers ‘yes’ and ‘no’ confirms little interest of ad banners on website. Ad banners are customized to the interests of young people who like music. TGI confirmed their interest in technology, telecom, financial, and fashion. Therefore, the ad banners usually refers precisely to those markets.

I try to keep up with developments in technology i26 I’m interested in financial services advertising i34 (TGI, Life Statements)

Q13. Do you go to gigs or festivals?34,15% of respondents do not go festivals and gigs, 31.71% go sometimes and 9.76% answered they go a lot. Only 19.51% is interested in festivals and confirmed they attendance and 4.88% attend festivals regularly. It may be concluded that young people more often cannot afford high tickets prises what does not exclude their interest in music festivals. Growth of tickets prises is caused by increasing VAT and higher cost of organising festivals in UK. One of interviewed responded said: It depends on my account situation to be honest. I usually plan my trips and related with them expenditures in advance.

0 10.0000 20.0000 30.0000 40.0000

No

Regularly

Sometimes

A lot

Yes

Vast majority buy tickets for festivals online or in known music shops.

Q14. Where did you buy tickets?

Q15. Do you take part in discussion forums on festival websites?TGI shows lot interest of young people in Chat rooms/ Forums (i35), Reading Blogs (i45) and Writing Blogs (i40). What is more they tend to be influenced by comments/reviews posted online by other Internet users (i29). Primary research denies TGI data, showing 88% of respondents do not take part in discussion forums on festival websites. Q16. Do festival webistes encourage yout to visit them regularly?Three quarters of respondents do not feel encouraged to visit website regularly. It indicates weak use of digital traffic building techniques by festival websites. It may be due to unvaluable content or weak website design: I don’t think so, they’re not what attracts my attention. (Interview 2.) 25% is satisfied with their chosen festival website and visit it regularly.

SummaryGroup aged 19 -24 are most interested in music and music events. They are students or just graduated University, looking for first job and living in big cities. They represent ABC1 social status. They often listen to music and indicated their desire to participate in music events. Digital marketing techniques of festivals website do not influent their decision of visiting website regularly. Music is a part of their lives what the survey confirmed. The willingness of being up to date through subscription does not mean high attendance on festivals and gigs. More often young people cannot afford these trips due to growing costs of life.

CRITIQUEStrenghts and weaknesess of the survey.

StrengthsSurvey was delivered online what contributed to cost-savings: It is less expensive to send questionnaires online than to pay for postage or for interviewers. Research shows that response rates on private networks are higher with electronic surveys than with paper surveys or interviews

Ease of Editing/Analysis: It was easier to make changes to questionnaire, and to copy and sort data.

Faster Transmission Time: Questionnaires could be delivered to respondents in seconds using social networking, rather than in days as with traditional mail.

Easy Use of Preletters: Received responses in a very short time and thus receive participation level estimates. . Usage of social networking and instant massagers.

Due to the speed of online networks, participants can answer in minutes or hours, and coverage can be global.

WeaknessesPopulation and sample limited to those with access to computer and online network. Also: Survey was put into social networking such as Facebook where international students

may have lots of non-English friends what may influent on results and not reflect UK music festival market.

Constructing the format of a computer questionnaire can be more difficult the first few times, due to a researcher’s small experience.

Response rates higher only during the first few days; thereafter, the rates were not significantly higher.

Few people are willing to spend a few minutes to fill in a questionnaire.

DICTIONARYBanner adverts – A typically rectangular graphic displayed on a web page for purposes of brand building or driving traffic to a site. It is normally possible to perform a click-through to access further information from another web site. Animated Banner Adverts – they involve several different frames which are displayed in sequence to attract attention to the banner and build up a theme, often ending with a call to action to click on the banner.Static ads – Banner ads that are not animated.Blog – An online diary regularly updated by an individual or group with topical news and views. Broadband – in other words – Internet. It is a term referring to methods of delivering information across the Internet at a higher rate by increasing bandwidth. Cost per Click – the cost of each click from referring site to a destination site, typically from a search engine in pay per click search marketing.Digital Marketing - is the promoting of brands using all forms of digital advertising channels to reach consumers. This now includes television, Internet, Radio, mobile and social media and any other form of digital media.Digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio – Digital radio with clear sound

quality with the facility to transmit text, images and video (podr)Dynamic and targeting – Specific ads are served in real-time to visitor clusters according to their characteristics and behaviour assessed by content types viewed.Earnings Per Click (EPC) – An important measure that affiliate uses to determine the value of each merchant or pages on their site. Ii is stands for Average Earnings Per Click and is usually measured across 100 clicks since an average is needed over this number of clicks. E – business – All electronically mediated information exchanges , both within an organization and with external stakeholders supporting the range of business process.E-commerce – All electronically mediated information exchanges between an organization nd its external stakeholders. Can refer to purchase only.E-marketing – Achieving marketing objectives through use of electronic communications technology.Internet Forum – is a discussion group on the Web about a particular topic. Users browser for access the Web. Internet forums include all the extras people expect from the Web, including images, videos, downloads and links, sometimes functioning as a mini-portal on the topic. (PC Magazine)

Ideal customer – preferred customer who is targeted due to their potential for a profitable relationships. Online PR – Maximizing favourable mentions of company, brands, products or web sites on third – party web sites that are likely to be visited by target audience.Online surveys - Surveys on-site through pop-up questionnaires. Pay Per Click – refers to when a company pays for ad to be displayed on the search engine results pages when a specific key phase is entered by the search users. The marketers pay for each time the hypertext link in the ad is clocked on. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – A structured approach used to increase the relative ranking position of a company or its products n search engine ‘natural’ results listings on Search Engine Results Pages for selected key phrases or key words.Traffic Building – The use of online and offline promotion techniques to increase the audience of a site (both new and existing customers). Target Group Index (TGI) – a study conducted by BMRB in the UK. This study collects information on the profiles of people who use or do not use a vast number of products.Mintel Market Research – High quality data. Identify particular market

opportunities, trend analysis, market size data and forecasts. Mintel’s clients gain global insight into consumer behaviour, product innovation and competitive markeing strategies. Music Festival - An entertainment event featuring a number of musical performers or bands of a certain genre or centered on a theme. Usually last longer than 1 day.Newsletter - a bulletin issued regularly to subscribers, employees, or members of an organization or group, containing news, a calendar of upcoming events, etc. Concert – a public musical performance in which a number of singers or instrumentalists, or both, participate. Target audience - particular group of people, indentified as the intended recipient of an advertimnet or message. Also called target population.Primary Research - Primary research is often undertaken after the researcher has gained some insight into the issue by collecting secondary data. (KnowThis.com, 1998-2010). Primary data will be collected by programme of observation, qualitative or quantitative research, either separately or in combination. (Wilson, 2006)Secondary Research - Secondary data is information that has been previously gathered for some purpose other than the current research project. (Wilson, 2010)

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TGI (2007) TGI data – Interests [online] Available on: https://www.kmrsoftware.net/netquestuni2 [Accessed 8 March 2011]

Chaffey D. (2008) eMarketing eXcellence: Planning and optimizing your digital marketing, 3rd ed. Oxford: Butterworth – HeinemannBradley N.(2010) Marketing Research: Tools and Techniques, 2nd ed., Oxford University

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Businessdictionary.com

KnowThis.com: Marketing tutorials (1998-2010) What Is Market Research? [online]. Available from: http://www.knowthis.com/principles-of-marketing-tutorials/data-collection-primary-research-methods/what-is-primary-research/ [Accessed]

Wilson, A. (2006) Marketing Research: An Integrated Approach, 2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd.

PC Magazine Encyclopaedia (2011) Internet Forum Definition [online]. Available from: http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=Internet+forum&i=57794,00.asp.